Kill Unions, Kill the American Economy

The Oregonian's March 29 editorial on “union funding” could have been written by ALEC and the libertarian Kochs. Cutting fair share is a step to killing unions, which big corporations have promoted for decades. But the death of unions doesn't serve any average American. In fact, the decline in union membership has been matched by a steady decline in Americans' standard of living overall. The editorial misses the mark on several counts.

Fair share members not only get all the financial benefits of a contract, they also are entitled by law to union protection in case of a grievance, which could incur costs greater than most employees could afford. The Oregonian appears to endorse a fair share member’s getting all the benefits without contributing to any costs of negotiating and maintaining the contract.

Also, the editorial ignores decades of research findings on benefits of unions. Research is clear: Unions not only help raise their members’ quality of life, but also that of working people throughout society. To ignore this reality is to ignore the damage the libertarian anti-union stand will do to American society as a whole.